HDMI Port not recognized

My laptop is several years old and I haven't had the need, until now, to use the HDMI port. I plugged a Kodak video camera into the port and the camera is supposed to come on automatically and begin the download of software to use with the camera. This doesn't happen and I get no error message. Is there anything I can do to activate the port or troubleshoot the issue?

If the HDMI is located on your graphic card then it's an OUTPUT port and not an INPUT port so it's made to connect external display devices like a TV and not for receiving information from a video camera. Check if it's an INPUT or OUTPUT port.